Boca star Carlos Tevez tied to Macri Group wind farm scandal

One of Argentina's most respected football players, Carlos Tevez, was part of alleged insider trading involving the Macri Group, a Perfil investigation revealed this weekend.

The Macri Group, owned and operated by relatives and former business associates of President Mauricio Macri, is under investigation for alleged insider trading involving the purchase of six wind farms Argentina's south.

Tevez owned 10 percent of Sideli SA, one of the companies involved in the acquisition, which did not involve a tender process, documents obtained by Perfil revealed.

The documentation included the financial records and boardroom decisions which the Macri Group took surrounding the wind farms. They were submitted to the General Judicial Inspector (IGJ)'s office 18 months after they were due and only after a series of legal interventions against the company, including from the State.

The investigation centres on whether the Executive, under the control of Mauricio Macri, favoured companies owned by the president's family and former associates.

Sideli SA, which Tevez held shares in at the time of the purchase, went into the acquisition with the Macri Group's largest firm, Sideco (with 15 percent); Helios Partner, an investment fund controlled by old business partners of the President's (with nine percent); and an obscure company called USIR Argentina SA (with 66 percent).

The documents suggest an even greater connection between President Maurcio Macri and shareholders of the companies involved.

Perfil made several attempts to contact Adrián Rocuo, Tevez's representative, but did not receive a response. One of the questions put to Rocuo was: Who called on the football star to invest in the wind farms? Was he aware of the irregularities in the purchase?

INSIDER TRADING?

In 2016, Sideco Americana — the Macri family’s insignia firm — created four companies in the name of an accountant. In cahoots with an associate firm, and without a public tender process, they acquired six wind farms in Chubut province and at Miramar in Buenos Aires province. The Spanish firm Isolux won the tenders and later sold them on in two transactions.

The Macris’ firm paid US$25 million for the first package of wind farms and in 2017 sold them to a company of the Macro Group (Genneia, whose wind farm Macri visited in March 2018) and a Chinese company (Goldwind). They profited US$15 million with just one of the farms, three sources directly involved in the transaction told Perfil.

A federal court in Buenos Aires ordered a raid on the Energy and Mining Ministry last March, where police seized documents containing information about companies linked to the Macri Group.

Federal Judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi is responsible for the case, which stemmed from an investigation by Perfil’s Emilia Delfino in early January.